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Omeprazole - long term use

laram

Well-known member
So, Sammy's pain is back again. :( This is a long, blabbery post - so please bear with me.

I wrote about Sammy's health problems recently in the health section with the title 'spondylsis'. As I expained there, I'm pretty sure he has SM but I can't afford the MRI yet (horrible to admit, since I literally would (and have) protected him like he's my child). He was having severe pain for a week or so, scratching so much he was bleeding. Then the vet gave strong antibiotics hoping that it would turn out to be an inner ear infection. I also asked her to prescribe omeprazole. After a few days on both the antibiotics and omeprazole he was much better, and I was already rejoicing it was just an infection. However, after taking him off omeprazole a few days ago, the pain came back. This time it seems to be concentrated around one eye. He's rubbing his eye constantly and flinching if I touch him on that side of his head. It makes me sick to the stomach to watch him. He's been on Metacam all this time and it doesn't seem to make any difference.

I'm still waiting for the prescription from the Helsinki neurologist for gabapentin. What I'd like to ask about here is omeprazole. Since it seems it wasn't an infection, I think it must have been the omeprazole that made the difference. However, the vet says omeprazole is only for short term use.

My questions:
Has anyone used Omeprazole for a long time?
What dosage?
What risks would be involved?

If the omeprazole really did make such a big difference to his pain, I would be prepared to take some risks. If his present pain continues, he simply won't be with me for much longer anyway.

This feels like a bad dream that keeps returning :(
 
Hi, we haven't been using it long, only 2 months now but I was told the same thing you were, that it can cause stomach cancer long term. I was nervous but decided to use it anyway. She was already on gabapentin, having stomach upset from the drug. When I reduced the dose she had screaming attacks so we added omeprazole.

It made such a huge difference so quickly that we will be staying on it even with the risks. I've also spoken to several people whose dogs have been on it for up to 2 years and no problems yet! She is on 10 mg a day. Just watch out for the stomach cancer risk. It scares me. From what I understand that is for extreme long term use in humans, and I haven't yet heard about a dog who had that side effect but I'll be getting an ultrasound of her stomach every year (or maybe 6 months) with her heart check up just to be safe.

What scares me is with SM it's easy to mistake other diseases and pain for SM symptoms, so I need to be especially vigilant.

Glad Sammy's feeling better!

Jen and Ilsa
 
When I got home today Sammy's eye was completely covered with thick red skin and he was hardly able to open it. So sad. He just kept frantically scratching and rubbing away at it, so I had to bandage his paws and put a scarf over his eye. I gave him melatonin which thank god made him fall asleep quickly (I totally recommend it for anyone who finds themselves in this terrible situation). Seeing the vet again in the morning. :neutral:
 
I'm sorry you're having to go through this with Sammy.:( It must be so upsetting. :hug:

If you haven't already done this, go to this link and print the page, then print the PDF from the link, and take it all to your vet.

I have been giving Geordie Omeprazole because it works. I tried Tagamet on him for a short time, but found it doesn't work as well for Geordie as Omeprazole does. I've been thinking about trying some of the others listed on the site/PDF to see if anything else is as effective.
 
Thanks. It is truly awful to see him in this condition and to know the worse he gets, the closer it's bringing me to having to make that final decision for his sake. I don't know how I'd do without him so suddenly. It's made worse by the fact that he won't let me tend to his wounds. He refuses to let me put eye-drops in or ointment on his neck; he just cries and jerks and hides from me like I'm trying to hurt him. It breaks my heart to think that possibly his last memories of me will be me deliberately (from his perspective) trying to make his pain worse.

Sorry for the downer. I know a lot of people are in the same situation. I'm just feeling so sad at the momentt.

On the up-side (still trying to hope), I finally managed to get a prescription for gabapentin. I printed out Claire Rusbridge's treatment guide and the vet I saw yesterday was very happy to get it. Unfortunately I still have to wait about a week for the drug to arrive at the pharmacy (they had to order it in). I also got another round of omeprazole, so hopefully that will have a good effect again soon. :xfngr:
 
Laura, I am so sorry that you are going through this. I hope that the gabapentin arrives soon and is like a magic bullet for his discomfort and pain.
I feel for you. It must be very difficult to keep in perspective everything. If only dogs could talk and tell us what they are feeling!
 
Laura, could the vet give you some Metacam or Tramadol for him? He should have something for pain relief. :flwr:
 
He's been on Metacam for a month already. Unfortunately it hasn't made any difference and he just keeps getting worse (with a few days of respite here and there). The omeprazole/gabapentin combination is pretty much my last hope. Like I said omeprazole seemed to work the last time... He's been on it for three days now and so far no improvement. At the moment all he does is sleep in a corner of the apartment or rub his eyes frantically.
 
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